A week after closing the acquisition of a 53% stake in Maroc Telecom from Vivendi, UAE’s Etisalat has made an offer for the remaining minority shareholdings.
Trading in Maroc Telecom was suspended today following the bid, according to a stock exchange…
A week after closing the acquisition of a 53% stake in Maroc Telecom from Vivendi, UAE’s Etisalat has made an offer for the remaining minority shareholdings.
Trading in Maroc Telecom was suspended today following the bid, according to a stock exchange announcement.
Etisalat could not be reached to provide more details on the bid
The UAE operator bought the majority stake from French conglomerate Vivendi for €4.1bn last week.
Under Moroccan takeover rules, Etisalat is required to make a buyout offer to the minority shareholders. The Kingdom of Morocco has a 30% holding in the incumbent, while the remaining 17% of shares are in free float.
To finance the deal, Etisalat recently signed a €3.15bn (US$4.36bn) loan agreement with 17 local, regional and international banks, €2.1bn of which come in form of a bridge loan, which will soon be replaced with a bond.
The rest of the purchase price will be funded by an Abu Dhabi state-owned fund, most likely to be Mubadala.
